Florida Updates

It’s been pretty crazy, so I haven’t had a lot of time (or headspace) to update. Those of you following on Facebook have gotten some tidbits, but here’s a more full update.

We arrived safely and with no puking, and Grandma had tater tot casserole ready in the oven. There was much joy all around.

Our first full day was unfortunately occupied with urgent care and the pharmacy. On the second day of travel, I developed terrible wrist and hand pain, kind of out of nowhere. The urgent care PA diagnosed me with nerve pain, and I’ve been wearing a brace and taking prednisone, which has been a huge help. The prednisone is keeping me awake at night, which I don’t love, but at this point it’s worth it.

Later that night Elias complained of tooth pain. This poor kid and his poor teeth. I sent a picture to the dentist and Elias is on penicillin. At least both medicines are cheap! The folks at this pharmacy are quite lovely.

We got to visit Give Kids the World again as an alumni family. You get a tag when you go in that identifies you as alumni, and all the volunteers and staff say “Welcome back!” when they see you coming.

We hung at the ice cream shop for a while – all the ice cream you want, all day, free – and Elias ingested enough popsicles for an army. (So basically just like Grandma’s house.)

We visited the magic castle, where Levi left a star on our original visit. It’s way up on the ceiling. Here’s a blurry picture – Levi’s star is circled.

The constant car time has been killing my back, so I snuck into the welcome office and asked if I could lie on the floor with my feet up the wall, please. They acted like it was a normal request.

And this leads to one of the most amazing things at GKTW. Paul was talking to a dad from the Bronx yesterday, and said, “One of the best things here is you can just relax about everything.”

“OH I KNOW!!!” boomed Bronx Dad.

For us, relaxing mostly means not worrying about spills and breakage; everything is kid-friendly and spills are met with smiles and assistance. For Bronx Dad it means a lot more. His son has profound mental disabilities. He’s nearly a grown man in body, but his brain and behavior will ever catch up. He had a huge throwdown at supper the other night. No one even batted an eye, a nonreaction both unique and welcome. “Relief” probably doesn’t quite cover it.

Speaking of relaxing, Paul and I snuck off for a date night, courtesy of Paul’s niece Amanda agreeing to watch the boys. Luna is a local Venice restaurant with authentic Italian and sports stuff literally everywhere, even on the ceiling. As I told a friend yesterday , it’s good sports stuff – even I recognize a lot of the autographs. We shared a booth with Bobby Knight.

Paul and I left so stuffed we weren’t sure we were going to make it home. I took a nice walk this morning to get rid of the feeling, and drank a ton of water. All of the sudden I felt a lot better. A walk and water. Who’da thunk? (I am a slow learner.)

Headed to pick up the boys at the beach now. We are armed with pizza and headed for Mote Marine Lab after lunch. Onward and upward!